Ubiratan works on the front lines of curating sport across borders, as a Major League Baseball analyst for ESPN Brazil. Ubiratan joined the network, where he also covers futebol, in 2010, but he claims to have been a sports fan since his birth in 1978, and a frustrated goalkeeper since circa 1984. Ubiratan studied journalism at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Sao Paulo and went on to win awards for his environmental journalism before eventually marrying his passions for sport and journalism, as a reporter at the digital outlet Placar, then as an editor at Trivela magazine and ESPN Magazine Brazil, from which he joined the sports cable network. From 2019 to 2021, Ubiratan also maintained a YouTube channel about sports with up to 150,000 subscribers.
Ubiratan’s interests beyond sport include astronomy and paleontology. He lives in Sao Paulo with his wife and son.
Favorite sports memory?
Staying up until 3 am to see Ayrton Senna conquer his first Formula 1 championship in 1988. I was just 10 years old, and having permission to stay up was a huge win in and of itself. Then a second one was watching Corinthians will Brazil’s futebol title.
Your global sports Mount Rushmore:
Pelé, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Jackie Robinson
Which world leader would you put in goal?
I wouldn’t trust any of them. In Brazil we have an app like Uber to rent a goalie for your games (seriously) and I’d rather use that.
Which athlete would you want to be world leader?
Socrates, the Brazilian player, not the Greek philosopher (though wait, maybe he can play goalie?)
Best rivalry:
River Plate-Boca Juniors in Argentine soccer. Pure madness
A sign that the world of sport is shrinking:
The fact that a Japanese-Brazilian journalist who covers baseball is now being asked these strange questions as a fellow affiliated with a university in Arizona (with whom I connected because of the NFL deciding to play a regular season game in Sao Paulo). Go figure.
Where would the Great Game Lab find the quintessence of global sport?
At a FIFA World Cup or Olympics, but at the fan fest moreso than on the field of play.
Question you'd most want to ask other fellows?
How much do you think about sport and society outside of North America and Europe?